fixedSharks will be thankful for their bye weekend, been a terrible couple of weeks.
Crusaders and the New Zealand sides are now flexing their collective muscles and if the Sharks and Bulls don’t pull their finger out, it could be an all New Zealand affair. Canes are looking real good.
Good victory from the Lions against the absolutly useless and rudderless Reds. A real shock considering they were missing Fourie and captain, Baywatch.
I will give the reds that, at least they are throwing it around and playing attractive footy, but equaly you cant just play that footy all the time, especially when your going ot drop the pill and just watch as the opposition races 70 m to score against the run of play...I think the reds had something like 65% possession, full credit to the lions Defense but the reds must have lost the ability to cross the gain line or something...if only they could produce like they did against the sharks, that was super rugby.The Reds vs Lions game was actually one of the more entertaining matches I watched during the weekend. Really good stuff from the Lions especially when they were down to 13 but to be fair, half their tries were gifted to them by Queensland.
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A lot depends on this weekend. An upset win for the Brumbies over the Hurricanes could change the equation as the Hurricanes have to play the Blues at home, Chiefs and Reds away and they haven't got the greatest record in Brisbane if my memory serves me correctly.So IMO the Sharks and Chiefs will be fighting over the other top four spot.
Its hard for most to believe that the Chiefs could miss out given they're top of the table but I wouldn't be surprised if you're correct in predicting that they'll finish fifth. I think the Hurricanes are fairly safe, I can't see the Brumbies threatening much in Wellington, and with the Reds' current form I don't think home ground advantage is going to be much good. Facing the Chiefs in Hamilton could be interesting but I still think the Canes will secure enough points for a semi.A lot depends on this weekend. An upset win for the Brumbies over the Hurricanes could change the equation as the Hurricanes have to play the Blues at home, Chiefs and Reds away and they haven't got the greatest record in Brisbane if my memory serves me correctly.
The two critical matches for me this weekend are Bulls v Chiefs and Hurricanes v Brumbies. I think whoever loses those matches are in for a tough last few weeks.
At this stage I'd be inclined to think Bulls and Sharks to make the four, then it's a 5 way battle for the next two spots amongst Hurricanes,Crusaders,Chiefs,Blues and Brumbies. Only problem I see with the Brumbies chances is the amount of injuries we've picked up in the past 2 weeks.
Hurricanes would probably also be my 3rd choice for a top 4 assuming they win this weekend (which they should do).
So I'd be predicting:
Bulls
Sharks
Hurricanes
Crusaders
as my final top 4, with the Chiefs 5th, Brumbies 6th and Blues or Waratahs 7th/8th.